Tuesday, May 22, 2018

Bhopal: Seven policemen were killed when the Maoists on Sunday blew up a vehicle, carrying the security personnel, by triggering a powerful improvised explosive device (IED) blast, near Cholnar in Chhattisgarh’s south Bastar district of Dantewada.

The attack took place on a day when Union home minister Rajanth Singh was scheduled to arrive in the state.

The land mine blast took place around 11.40 am when a joint team of the Chhattisgarh Armed Force (CAF) and the District Force (DF) was patrolling the Cholnar-Kirandul road to provide security to trucks carrying construction material for road works between Kirandul and Palnar villages, a senior police official said.

The blast created a 10-feet crater on the road and tossed the police vehicle into the air.
“Five jawans died on the spot,” said deputy inspector general (DIG), state intelligence bureau (SIB), P. Sunderraj.The other two jawans died during treatment.

The slain security personnel included four jawans of the CAF and three personnel from the DF.
The Maoists took away the slain jawans’ weapons — 2 INSAS rifles, 2 AK 47s and 2 SLRs — after the blast.